Het ziet er steeds meer naar uit, dat rode wijn veroudering tegengaat , hart- en vaatziekten voorkomt en ook diabetes 2 helpt bestrijden.Tot nog toe werden de meeste effecten vaker vastgesteld bij proefdieren dan bij mensen en dan ‘geëxtrapoleerd ‘. Maar nu hebben Amerikaanse wetenschappers van de universiteit van Buffalo overtuigend vastgesteld dat de heilzame stof resveratrol ook direct de levensduur en de gezondheid van de mens ten goede komt. Vandaag publiceerde de Telegraph de bevindingen van de universiteit. Wij citeren:

“American researchers found that a plant extract contained in the skin of red grapes helps protect the body against ageing. They found the extract, resveratrol, reduced inflammation in humans that led to heart disease and strokes and Type 2 Diabetes. It has already been shown to prolong life in yeast and animals such as roundworms and fruit flies.

But the researchers at the University of Buffalo, New York, writing in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, said they wanted to study its effect on humans. They concluded that their findings indicated consuming resveratrol could help reduce the development of type 2 diabetes, ageing, heart disease and strokes.

Dr Dandona and his team used 20 participants where half were given a natural supplement containing 40 milligrams of resveratol while the other volunteers received an identical pill containing no active ingredient.

Participants took the pill once a day for six weeks. Blood samples were collected as the start of the trial and at week one, three and six. The results showed that resveratrol suppressed molecules known to cause inflammation in the body. It also suppressed compounds in the blood vessels which interfere with the production of insulin, reducing the risk of developing the diabetes.

Blood samples from the participants who received the placebo showed no change in these pro-inflammatory markers. Dr Dandona cautioned that while the results were promising, more research had to be done to discount the possibility something else in the extract used was responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects. “